President Estelle Pearson welcomed 90 delegates (Members and non-Members) to the Institute’s one-day ‘Banking on Change’ Seminar held in Sydney on Wednesday 16 September. The Seminar program included presentations from keynote speakers RBA Assistant Governor Guy Debelle and APRA Chairman Wayne Byres plus insightful sessions on Technological Innovation, the Australian Mortgage Market and Bank Capital and Liquidity. There was a high level of media interest in the Seminar and the comments from both keynote speakers resulted in extensive media coverage.

Wayne Byres, whose speech focused on the changes stemming from the post-crisis regulatory reforms in banking and the capital strength and resilience of the Australian banking sector, expressed his appreciation that the Actuaries Institute is taking a greater interest in banking-related matters. "There is no shortage of important issues where the analytical disciplines of the actuarial profession can make a significant contribution," he said.

Guy Debelle’s speech focused on bond market liquidity, long-term rates and China. He warned that Australia must ready itself for financial aftershocks of the coming interest rate rise in the US and also spoke on the effect of government bond yields on the discount rates used in actuarial calculations.